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How to cut down on the spending impulse?

8 February, 2014

How often do we end up buying things that we really don’t need, but the impulse to buy is too high! There are a lot of occasions where we don’t think before acting. Thanks to Christine Long in The Sunday Morning Herald for showing exactly how to overcome that spending demon.

Why is “too much” of a credit card use really bad?

Flashing that platinum card with seemingly limitless spending makes it easy to buy things that, at times, one can really not afford. However, the credit card is made to make us feel like we are the richest people in the world. With our dependency on this plastic money, we tend to forget how much money do we really have and just think in terms of the limits of the cards.

How to break free from the impulse?

The best thing to do is to simply cut and cancel the card. However, this is easier said than done and a credit card can really be of help in an emergency. So it might be a good idea to first check on the dependency on the card and then limit it.

One way to check and limit the use is by switching to cash completely and not using the card at all. This can be incorporated into one’s lifestyle for a week to begin with.

Another way that people try to cut down on spending impulse is literally freezing the card, leaving it with some trustworthy friend or family or even carrying around the credit cards statements rather then the card to cut the impulsive feeling and reaching for the card.

Freezing the limits of the cards is also an effective measure to check on spending spree. It is advisable to have only one card and put limits on it. One should also switch off the auto fill details on shopping portals to cut back on unnecessary purchases.

These simple ways surely can clip the urge to splurge and come clean off debts.